Boris Johnson visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday.
Photograph: Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images

A visit by Boris Johnson to the occupied Palestinian territories has been severely curtailed by his hosts in protest at a series of strongly pro-Israel remarks made by the Conservative mayor of London during his visit.

Johnson had been expected to meet with a Palestinian youth group, which cancelled its invitation after what it described as his “inaccurate, misinformed and disrespectful remarks” regarding the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

A meeting with businesswomen was also cancelled, and Johnson will also not attend an affordable housing event, although his delegation will be represented. His meeting with the Palestinian prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, will go ahead.

Johnson told reporters accompanying him that two of his three meetings had been called off by organisers after Hamdallah warned him that security “would perhaps be at risk” if they went ahead.

During his visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Johnson pointedly criticised the Palestinian-led BDS movement – remarks that were picked up on social media and prompted concern that he might face protests.

During his three-day trade mission, Johnson repeatedly criticised calls for a boycott of Israeli goods, describing the campaign as “completely crazy” and promoted by a “few lefty academics” in corduroy jackets pursuing a cause.

The BDS movement was set up as a grassroots Palestinian initiative with widespread support in Palestinian society, although it also enjoys support from activists overseas.

Johnson was disinvited by the Sharek Youth Forum, which posted a statement saying it had refused to host the mayor as he “fails to acknowledge our very existence as Palestinians”.

It said: “Following Johnson’s inaccurate, misinformed and disrespectful statement regarding the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on 9 November, stating that he ‘cannot think of anything more foolish’, it is our conclusion, supported by the Palestinian youth that we represent, he consciously denies the reality of the occupation that continues to oppress them and all Palestinians.

“As Palestinians and supporters of BDS, we cannot in good conscience host Johnson, as a person who denounces the international BDS movement and prioritises the feelings of wearers of ‘corduroy jackets’ over an entire nation under occupation.

“In Johnson’s own words, the ‘only democracy in the region … a pluralist, open society’ is one that oppresses citizens, confiscates land, demolishes homes, detains children and violates international humanitarian and human rights law on a daily basis.”

The London mayor said he understood that his comments had been “very much whipped up” on social media. He told reporters he was pleased to be back in the West Bank but added: “It seems as though there’s some anxiety about some meetings – they’re worried about some of the safety aspects.

“There’s some stuff going on on social media apparently, so rather depressingly we can’t do the youth forum and one other meeting.”

Boris Johnson has a coffee with Ziad al-Bandak, an adviser to the Palestinian president, during a tour of Jerusalem’s Old City. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Reporters were later informed that Palestine Women’s Business Forum meeting also off. Asked about the security threat, Johnson said: “The reality is we were determined to come here even though it’s quite a difficult time at the moment and there’s a lot of tension.

“I think that some people have obviously taken remarks I made about the boycott – which is, after all, British government policy – they’ve taken offence of that and that’s been very much whipped up on social media. So we had a message from the office of the prime minister that the security with us was going to be perhaps at risk and so we’ve had to think about those meetings.”

Johnson said he hoped they would go ahead but the current situation was that they would not. He went on: “If it’s true people are making threats or whatever, that’s very sad.”

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An upsurge in violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the last month has claimed 90 lives, including Palestinians involved in attacks on Jews.

Other remarks made by Johnson during his visit combined his usual flippancy with hyperbolic enthusiasm for Israel and patronising comments about “Arabs”, not least in his inaugural Winston Churchill speech in Jerusalem.

He said in the speech: “If we look at the history of modern Israel there is no doubt that the comparison can be extended, and that there is something Churchillian about the country he helped to create. There is the audacity, the bravery, the willingness to take risks with feats of outrageous derring-do.”

He added: “When [Churchill] wrote his 1922 white paper that paved the way for accelerated Jewish entry into Palestine, Churchill imagined Jews and Arabs living side by side, with technically expert Jewish farmers helping the Arabs to drive tractors.”